sgbeachbum

Cyrene Reef never ceases to amaze. Made up of three submerged reefs, one can only walk on it during particularly low tides. It lies surrounded by shipping lanes in and out of the port at the south-western edge of Singapore. Despite the busy shipping and petrochemical plants surrounding it, Cyrene Reef hosts an amazing range of marine life. With the low tides, the exposed reef and its temporary shallow pools become a feeding ground for wading and shorebirds.

These reef egrets were already on the exposed bit of the reef before we got off our boat and into the dinghy. Both the white and dark morph reef egrets were present and busy darting about looking for food. The dark morphs had smoky dark grey feathers, a white throat and a yellow bill. Both morphs were actively hunting for food in the shallows and they were very good at finding food ranging from tiny crabs, prawns and even fish.

white morph pacific reef egret @ cyrene reef - 09Feb2016 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

One peculiar thing both morphs did was to partially open up their wings as if to air their underwings as they were approaching their prey. Perhaps this helped to create a shadow to encourage prey to come out from hiding. Or maybe it helps with maintaining balance during active pursuits.

dark morph pacific reef egret @ cyrene reef - 09Feb2016 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

There were a total of 9 egrets seen that afternoon and 3 of them were dark morphs. The remaining 6 were white morphs.

Some links about the pacific reef egret :-
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22696980
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_reef_heron
http://www.arkive.org/pacific-reef-egret/egretta-sacra/
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-pacific-eastern-reef-egret.html
http://www.besgroup.org/2011/08/17/pacific-reef-egrets-%E2%80%93-fishing-in-pulau-tioman-malaysia/
http://orientalbirdclub.org/chinese-egret/
http://npss.org.sg/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=855
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/birds/herons-small.htm

More about Cyrene Reef :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/cyrene.htm
http://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/dna/places/details/55
http://cyrenereef.blogspot.sg/
http://teamseagrass.blogspot.sg/search/label/cyrene#.VsCWNpN95E4

a pair of 'whimlews' @ semakau south - 08Feb2016 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

The receding afternoon tide exposed quite a fair bit of the long sandy Southern Intertidal mudflat shore at Pulau Semakau.   The resident grey herons were out at various puddles picking out small fish which were soon to be trapped as the water drained away from the intertidal zone.  

There were also four smaller birds walking about on the exposed sandy mudflats. These were a little difficult to identify as they did not fit within the list of usual resident birds. The birds were of the plover family and were light grey with a pale underbelly. They had longish legs and a distinct stocky bill.

They were obviously not one of the smaller plovers. When one of the birds took flight, the black ancillaries (the area below the wings closest to the body - the equivalent of our armpits) could be seen clearly. The bird also showed a white uppertail covert with some faint markings at the fringe. 

A check with some good friends confirmed that these were grey plovers which are winter visitors to Singapore and are seen on the quieter shores around mainland Singapore.